Presentation of the Mayurqa Academy

3 October, 2016

Presentation of the Mayurqa Academy

One of the most pressing issues for Muslims today is the teaching of the Deen firmly based on the traditional sources but within a modern context and understanding. The teaching of a correct Deen is the main tool that the individual and the society has to protect themselves against extremism.

The Deen is the Middle Way, the Sirat al-Mustqim, the balanced way between two opposites. On one hand is the detestable religious extremism that converts Islam, and any religion in which it appears, into something rigid, difficult, and oppressive. On the other hand, the absolute lack of moral principles and the denial of the spiritual inner life of the individual, who has adopted a scientific materialism that has become, for all intents and purposes, a religion on it’s own.

In front of this dilemma, Islam offers a middle way, the Solomonic Way, that as one teacher explained to me, might he rest in peace, it is not the way of Solomon, but the way of the Salmons, who with discipline and perseverance go up the stream to fulfill their life’s purpose. According to him, there are two ways to gain knowledge of the inner. The first way is the Milky Way, that has nothing to do with its astronomical meaning; this way has almost and completely disappeared, and so we are left just with one option: the Way of the Salmons.

This Solomonic Way is what Islam offers us, so that through the acceptance of the Creator and by following His indications we might fulfill our purpose in life and we might develop our humanity to its utmost level.

This is the teaching that the Mayurqa Academy offers, and it is no other than knowledge of the Creator through His uncreated words revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah grant him peace, the Quran al-Karim, and the acceptance of His indications, orders and prohibitions, based on the prophetic tradition, the Sunnah of the Messenger.

With this goal in mind, the Mayurqa Academy, that has inherited the legacy created by the Muhammad Wazzani Quranic School, offers a range of courses of which the subjects taught will be: the memorization of Quran in the andalusian way; fiqh at various levels depending on the course; Arabic language, an essential tool for a correct understanding of the Quran; Tajweed, the science of a correct recitation; Sirah, the life and times of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions, who were a perfect example of noble character and behaviour, and tafsir, the science that deals with the explanation of the Quranic ayats.

These are the sciences in which the curriculum of the Mayurqa Academy is based, but a very important part of the life in the academy is the development of an attitude of service and brotherhood and a connection with the fitrah, the primordial nature of man, through contact with the earth.

The academy has several courses at the moment: a three month foundational course, one year foundational course, four year Quran memorization program (although the duration might change depending on the aptitude of the student), one month course focused on new muslims and seminars throughout the year open to the general public and that will have a variety of subjects.

The goal is that those who come to the Mayurqa Academy will leave with something better than that with which they arrived, inner and outwardly, and having acquired the knowledge necessary to go up the stream in this Solomonic Way, the Sirat al-Mustaqim, with the knowledge that this is only possible with a disposition to service and an attitude of being beneficial wherever one is.